During the events of that day, the Syrian Army abandoned its positions along the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) buffer area.

Israel declared its military objectives to be: the full occupation of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone, the establishment of a security zone free from heavy weaponry and military infrastructure, the prevention of Iranian arms smuggling routes through Syria to Lebanon, and elimination of Syrian heavy strategic weaponry.

After the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Israel and Syria agreed to a ceasefire which created the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which maintains a small buffer zone between the two countries.

Following the fall of the Assad regime, Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli expressed apprehension at the opposition forces' political upheaval of the Syrian government, claiming that: "Most of Syria is now under the control of al-Qaeda and Daesh.

"[37] He implored Israel to re-fortify its defensive line at Mount Hermon in Israeli-occupied Golan Heights based on 1974 borders in order to prevent potential attacks by the new regime.

The IDF received four primary strategic objectives from Defense Minister Katz to conduct "in the immediate term":[30] Following the advance of the Syrian opposition in the south, Israel reinforced Division 210 and deployed additional troops to the Golan Heights to prevent any possible threats.

[39] When Syrian opposition forces first occupied the southern town of Hader, it was reported that the IDF had advanced further into the Golan Heights to repel an attack on a United Nations post in the area.

[44] Following the advance into the Quneitra Governorate and the Syrian-controlled side of Mount Hermon by the Israeli Special Forces Shaldag Unit (Unit 5101),[8] Netanyahu issued a statement saying that the 1974 ceasefire agreement had collapsed when Syrian soldiers abandoned their posts in the Golan Heights, and that the area was to be temporarily occupied to "ensure that no hostile force embeds itself next to the border of Israel.

"[45] During the takeover, IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee announced a curfew in five Syrian villages, including Quneitra, ordering locals of the border towns to remain inside "until further notice.

During a video statement filmed on the summit, Netanyahu said that the IDF would stay in Syria "until another solution ensuring Israel's security is found".

[73] By evening, the Israeli Air Force and Navy had struck naval assets in the Port of Latakia,[74][25] and an alleged chemical weapons production center in Barzeh,[75] and Qamishli Airport in northern Syria.

[1] These roughly 200[51] airstrikes, including strikes on Damascus, Daraa, Latakia, and Hama,[76] destroyed dozens of fighter jets and helicopters in the first phase and the entire Syrian naval fleet in the second.

[11] A Turkish newspaper report alleged that Assad gave information about Syrian military sites to Israel in exchange for safe passage out of the country.

[23][83][84] On 15 January, the Israeli Air Force struck a Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham vehicle convoy in Quneitra Governorate, killing two HTS personnel and the mayor of a local village.

[85] In an interview to Al Jazeera, Robert Geist Pinfold – lecturer in International Peace and Security at Durham University – opined, "The Golan Heights is supposed to be a buffer zone to protect the rest of Israel.

"[26] Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert disagreed, saying that Israel has "enough problems to deal with", and questioned the idea of expanding the buffer zone further.